well, ive got something for you, if your ever in seneca missouri. its called hoffman's mansion, and there is some spooky stuff that happens there.

#1 BACKGROUND, let me give a little background. Hoffmans mansion was origionally created sometime in the late 1800, around 1580-1868, and served as a home for an immigrant family. After the deaths of the origional owners (nothing suspicious, from what i can tell) it was purchased by the hoffman family. The hoffmans lived there, with a caretaker in a small house to the side, for sometime, until tradegy struck (circa 1920's) and then, years later, was sold to a family from california (circa 1960) after serious restoration. the family stayed at the residence for about 6 years, until they moved away and never returned.

#2 WHAT HAPPENED THEN?so what was the tradegy? well, when the hoffmans owned the mansion, they ran a camp for kids in the summer. one summer the caretaker went insane, tortured kids to death, and then hung himself from a huge tree in the front of the cemetary. much later, the family moved out after experiancing several phenomenan like moving beds, objects flying off shelfes, so on and so forth. many years later, around 2001, a drug deal, on the property went bad, and a younger man, (no older than me, im 25) was shot to death and then burned in his van. all of this death and tradegy in such a relatively small place. its spooky to look at when driving by, let alone to get out and walk around in.

#3 WHAT HAPPENS NOW? Now, the place is full of negative energy, that is VERY obvious when you simply drive by it. when i went there, we drove there, parked in front of the gate, and stood outside and looked in. from outside you could see a statue of jesus christ, with its head, hands, and feet cut off and descrated lying on the ground. while i am sure that this is obvioulsy the work of vandals, that area seems to be a focal point of energy. When we were out there, we heard something moving. not something small, either, something big, moving fast, in circles around us while we were parked on the side of the road. Also, our team-lead, t-buck, took off for the truck after looking at the gates in, saying "its breathing on me" and that "it" is energy, which we think is daemonic. after t-buck got in the truck, we took off, but right as the driver was putting the vechile in drive, we heard screams. not just any screams, but screams that would chill your blood. they were so loud that it was like they were inside your head, and they felt as though they pierced your soul. until the day i die i will not forget those screams, they sounded like thousands of voices wailing out in agony in a single second.

CONCLUSION After being there and feeling and hearing what i did, i would like to return, this time with equipment, (and with holy water and crufixes) and get access to the inside. as it is privately owned, and the grave is a family grave now, im trying to get ahold of the landowners to get permission for paranormal reaserch there. my southern baptist beliefes make me feel that if it is a daemon, or daemonic energy, then my faith in god will protect me, and if its just a malevelont spirit, it would be nice to send him twoard the light and give him peace. (or her if its applicable) In all, i will return, with both science and religion as my tools, and hopefully can ease the great torment this place has obvioulsy undercome.

"Science without religion, is theory, religion without science, is myth" a friend of mine always uses this statement, and i am beginning to beleive in it. i think my return trip to hoffmans will either prove or disprove this statement either way.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get this information (specifically the stuff in "Backround" and "What Happened Then?") from? It's not that I doubt you, it's just that I haven't been able to find anything on this anywhere on the internet, and I like to have sources.

well, its mainly folklore, to be honest. i have done a lot of reaserch at the local library (heading there tomorrow night again, to be honest) and with talking to the other paranormal reaserchers who have either read about the same thing or have spoke to people that corroborate most of the story. the land owners wont say much about the past of that land, but they will say it has had "an interesting, if nothing else" past.

some of the most recent stuff i have been able to find out about on the local newspaper online, almost everything else i have found has been at the local library, (microfiche is my friend).

are you from joplin, im heading to the library tomorrow night after 7pm (its when im dont at work) one of our team is speaking with local religious leaders and trying to discern if anything they know, if anything at all, sounds similar to what we have heard from others and what i have found out when reaserching.

im also trying to find the couple that purchased the house, or at least a living relative, so i can speak with them and hopefully ask them some questions. with this, im trying to get as many consistancies as i can, once i get all of the "folklore" together, i figure whatever sounds most consistant, is probably closer if not the truth.

serioulsy, if you are in the joplin area, and you want to learn more, my name is scott, ill be wearing a blue button up shirt with khakis and a pair of brown dr. martins boots, i have glasses, and am heavy set, standing at 6' and weighing in at 275lbs.

please meet me if you want to do reaserch on this topic together. my email is scott@joplin.com

Unfortunately, I live in Williamsport, PA, so I can't help with your research. Not that you seem to need my help; from the sound of things, you're already covering all the angles of the case very thoroughly. At any rate, I wish you the best of luck in your research.

The demon(Shadow) walked around me in the distance.
The demon "Naberius" I think actualy looked at me from over a ridge from across the street. I saw his glowing eyes and we sat there looking at each other almost measuring each up (still at distance of about 100-200 feet) for about a minute. Then I car drove by and I left. By the way Sco77y call because we need to talk. OH I think he is scared.

The demon(Shadow) walked around me in the distance.The demon "Naberius" I think actualy looked at me from over a ridge from across the street. I saw his glowing eyes and we sat there looking at each other almost measuring each up (still at distance of about 100-200 feet) for about a minute. Then I car drove by and I left. By the way Sco77y call because we need to talk. OH I think he is scared.

Ive been to hoffmans mansion and indeed it is scarey the jesus statue doesnt stand any more but the cemetary it well kept..my friends have actually takin a camcorder out there and left it for about 5 hours and the things they've captured on it were almost unrealistic...im very interested in the house and i wish i knew more ..rumor has it that mr. hoffman used to hang black people and murder small children..there is a baby approx 3 days old burried out in that cemetary with no headstone supposedly one he killed..i would love to help investigate this place..plus im close to hoffmans mansion location.

Well, some of the info is correct, except that the only two graves are that of Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman, and it never left the Hoffman family's ownership. I know the people who own the LAND. The house didn't make it into this century, it burned down in late 99, early 00 if I remember correctly. I know I was gone WAY before 2003, also, there is a caretaker that lives there and has ever since the mansion was abandoned. He has a small house on the property. Honestly, I don't know where this guy was looking. Hoffman's mansion was located in an area riddled with folklore and unsolved mysteries. Do a search on "spooklight". It's located 3 miles down the road, has more fame and superstition, and has confused every scholar that has investigated it. Also there is Devil's Promenade, which is tied into the spooklight mystery and located a mile the other direction from Hoffman's mansion.

I have been inside of the mansion and have seen some crazy things, but no overwhelmingly dark presence. It was turned into a "spookhouse" the Halloween before it burned down, and everyone involved had a good time.

well, its mainly folklore, to be honest. i have done a lot of reaserch at the local library (heading there tomorrow night again, to be honest) and with talking to the other paranormal reaserchers who have either read about the same thing or have spoke to people that corroborate most of the story. the land owners wont say much about the past of that land, but they will say it has had "an interesting, if nothing else" past.

some of the most recent stuff i have been able to find out about on the local newspaper online, almost everything else i have found has been at the local library, (microfiche is my friend).

are you from joplin, im heading to the library tomorrow night after 7pm (its when im dont at work) one of our team is speaking with local religious leaders and trying to discern if anything they know, if anything at all, sounds similar to what we have heard from others and what i have found out when reaserching.

im also trying to find the couple that purchased the house, or at least a living relative, so i can speak with them and hopefully ask them some questions. with this, im trying to get as many consistancies as i can, once i get all of the "folklore" together, i figure whatever sounds most consistant, is probably closer if not the truth.

I don't believe a Caretaker lives on the immediate property, I was actually out there just a few nights ago and the only things left are a tree stand, the old caretaker house (which is run down and abandoned) and of course the cementary. Some crazy stuff happened there too. When we looked at one of Hoffman headstones, we heard two loud bangs come from the abandoned single room building just behind us (Caretaker Shack maybe?).

There is a highway overpass nearby though, but that was ruled out considering the noise came from just yards away.

Not far from that is an old rusted bridge were the story is, if you leave candy, the spirits of deceased children who I'm guessing drowned in the creek will come get it. I left Orbitz gum sitting on the rail and honestly I didn't believe it. We came back in a few hours and surely enough the gum was gone. Whether it was spirits or nature is up to you. I left my empty pack of Orbitz there the second time, trying to "punk" the spirits or make light of the whole thing. Well within ten minutes of us leaving, we got a flat tire. Then our spare went flat. We couldn't find out how we got the flat either, crazy night =).

I don't believe a Caretaker lives on the immediate property, I was actually out there just a few nights ago and the only things left are a tree stand, the old caretaker house (which is run down and abandoned) and of course the cementary. Some crazy stuff happened there too. When we looked at one of Hoffman headstones, we heard two loud bangs come from the abandoned single room building just behind us (Caretaker Shack maybe?).

There is a highway overpass nearby though, but that was ruled out considering the noise came from just yards away.

Not far from that is an old rusted bridge were the story is, if you leave candy, the spirits of deceased children who I'm guessing drowned in the creek will come get it. I left Orbitz gum sitting on the rail and honestly I didn't believe it. We came back in a few hours and surely enough the gum was gone. Whether it was spirits or nature is up to you. I left my empty pack of Orbitz there the second time, trying to "punk" the spirits or make light of the whole thing. Well within ten minutes of us leaving, we got a flat tire. Then our spare went flat. We couldn't find out how we got the flat either, crazy night =).

Hey I was wondering if you could give me directions to the hoffman mansion, a friend and I wanted to head out there this weekend, we've been to the spooklight and wanted to check out the mansion to. thanks.

I don't believe a Caretaker lives on the immediate property, I was actually out there just a few nights ago and the only things left are a tree stand, the old caretaker house (which is run down and abandoned) and of course the cementary. Some crazy stuff happened there too. When we looked at one of Hoffman headstones, we heard two loud bangs come from the abandoned single room building just behind us (Caretaker Shack maybe?).

There is a highway overpass nearby though, but that was ruled out considering the noise came from just yards away.

Not far from that is an old rusted bridge were the story is, if you leave candy, the spirits of deceased children who I'm guessing drowned in the creek will come get it. I left Orbitz gum sitting on the rail and honestly I didn't believe it. We came back in a few hours and surely enough the gum was gone. Whether it was spirits or nature is up to you. I left my empty pack of Orbitz there the second time, trying to "punk" the spirits or make light of the whole thing. Well within ten minutes of us leaving, we got a flat tire. Then our spare went flat. We couldn't find out how we got the flat either, crazy night =).

Hey I was wondering if you could give me directions to the hoffman mansion, a friend and I wanted to head out there this weekend, we've been to the spooklight and wanted to check out the mansion to. thanks.